Staff at Boys & Girls Club pucker up to a porker

Bella, a 7-month-old Juliana pig, was a big hit at the Fall River Boys & Girls Club on Saturday for about 200 raucous club members and staff.

Jo C. Goode Herald News Staff Reporter @jgoodeHN

FALL RIVER — Bella, a 7-month-old Juliana pig, was a big hit at the Fall River Boys & Girls Club on Saturday for about 200 raucous club members and staff.

Well, maybe not for the five staffers who actually had to pucker up to the little porker in front of the crowd and cameras.

The special event at the club was the finale of National Boys & Girls Club Week, which included a pool party and a basketball game with members of the Fall River Police Department.

Club Executive Director Peter McCarthy said kids at the Boys & Girls Club voted for the five staff members who had to to kiss a pig. The event was an incentive to get the kids to complete a national survey for the Boys & Girls Club.

The five chosen by club members were Dominic Jackson, Dana Hubbard, Noah Quental, Jeremy Folger and Kendra Sullivan.

“They were either the winners or the losers,” McCarthy said.

Dubbed the “Kiss the Pig Half Time Show” during the basketball game, Bella greeted the crowd that surrounded her cage as she waited in the wings, her straight little tail wagging.

Bella’s owner, Denise Feinberg, said that like a dog, a wagging tail indicates happiness. Feinberg said Bella is a cuddler who pushes around the family’s golden retriever.

As Bella was brought into the gymnasium, the crowd roared as McCarthy lined up his staff of pig-kissers “to bond” with her.

Hubbard looked on with a bit of trepidation, conscious of what was ahead. She would be the first one in, to the chants of “kiss the pig.”

Next was Quintal, who made several unsuccessful attempted smooches until finally landing one on Bella.

With shouts from McCarthy to put his head in the cage, Folger definitely came away with the best pig-kiss of the day.

“Wow, she’s chickening out,” claimed McCarthy as Sullivan backed away from Bella’s cage, finally enticing the pig with a bit of fresh spinach to get a kiss.

With gladiator-like confidence, Jackson approached Bella’s cage, took a breath and instantly popped one on the little pig.

McCarthy said last year’s incentive for completing the survey was smashing pies into the faces of staff, and the year before the kids got to duct-tape their chosen staffers to the wall.